Page 28 of Dirty Weekend

We were drawing the attention of several people who’d lost interest in the game. Jack put handcuffs on Kevin.

“It won’t stick,” I said. “And it’ll be paperwork. And a headache from his father.”

Jack shrugged. “That’s the reason it’s worth it. Pricks like this are pricks because no one calls them on it.”

“This is entrapment,” Kevin yelled, struggling against Jack. “I’m going to sue the hell out of you. My father will buy and sell you. If you don’t end up having an accident of your own. You don’t know who you’re messing with.”

“Wow, that sounded like a threat,” Jack said. “And I don’t really care who your father is. Like I said, we’re in the middle of a murder investigation, and I just don’t like you. Maybe a night in a cell with a couple of other drunks will change your disposition.”

Jack called in for a black-and-white to meet him out front so Kevin could be transported.

“By the way,” Jack said to Thea. “The house is part of the crime scene. You’ll need to find other accommodations until we’re done with the search. The house is off limits. Does Kevin have his vehicle?”

“Yeah, it’s parked around back,” she said, frowning.

“We’ll impound it to the station,” he said. “A deputy will take you to a hotel or wherever you’ll be staying for the time being.”

“But I’ve got to work,” she said. “And study. Kevin is my ride.”

“Seems like you could do better,” I said. “Good luck on the bar exam.”

The rain hadn’t stopped and we had at least two unsolved murders on our plate, but arresting Kevin had cheered Jack up immensely.

Chapter Eight

Jack dropped me off at the funeral home and left so he could be there when Kevin was processed. I knew Jack was frustrated and tired, but he’d work through the night to find out the truth of what had happened to Cami Downey. The problem was, we didn’t have a lot to work on and time was already against us. The longer someone was dead, the harder it was to find their killer.

We already knew the creek was too high for us to get home tonight, so Jack decided to go back to his office to set up murder boards for Cami. And if I confirmed the fracturing in Coach Hargrove’s skull, Jack would have reason to set up a murder board for him as well.

I’d already had enough coffee for the day so I grabbed a bottle of water, popped a couple of ibuprofen, and headed downstairs to the lab. I liked the funeral home the best when it was quiet and empty. It had never bothered me to be alone with the dead.

Lily had left everything nice and tidy, and I found all her notes on my desk and the samples I’d asked her to take from Rooney Danforth, our death by sex victim. I could run his labs and wait for the tox screen results while I took a look at Coach Hargrove.

I walked into the refrigeration unit, bypassing Coach Hargrove’s body and moving toward the tray of skull fragments on the shelf. I carried it out and then placed everything carefully on my exam table, using the under lights beneath the table so I could see every mark and crevice.

It didn’t take me long to confirm Lily’s discovery. I didn’t have an entire skull to work with, and only a small fraction of the parietal and occipital, but at the edge of one of the fragments was fracturing that looked like a small spiderweb. I double-checked to make sure it hadn’t been caused by the buckshot, but bullets and buckshot left a very distinct marking on bone. This kind of fracturing could only be caused by one thing. Blunt force trauma.

I took pictures and documented everything, and then I updated Hargrove’s file with my official ruling before putting everything back in the refrigeration unit.

And then I saw the tox results for Mr. Danforth. “Well, well, well,” I said, immediately running the test again for confirmation.

His autopsy was set for the next morning, but the evidence in his bloodstream was pretty damning. He had six times the amount of sildenafil in his system that a regular dose of erectile dysfunction medicine would contain. And contrary to popular belief, a man could take too much. Cardiac arrest was only one of the problems an overdose could pose. I couldn’t think of a man alive who would willingly take six times the amount on purpose.

The second tox screen came back the same as the first, and I left the file out on my desk so it would be ready once I started the autopsy the next morning. I cleaned up and then ran back upstairs full of more energy than I should have been considering it had already been a sixteen-hour day.

I grabbed a change of clothes from my office and shoved them in my bag, and I pulled on my parka but didn’t bother zipping it up. I was still damp from the day. The Suburban was parked under the carport where Lily had left it.

It took me longer than usual to get to the sheriff’s office. The bars were all open and filled to the brim, and every parking space in the Towne Square was taken. I was glad I was no longer on duty in the ER. Nights like this made for great stories, but terrible realities, and everyone working tonight would go home dead on their feet.

I finally lost patience looking for a parking space and parked in a tow-away zone. All the cops knew my vehicle, and I was willing to take the chance it would still be here when I was ready to leave.

There was a break in the clouds long enough for me to see the cause of all the bedlam. The full moon shone bright for a few seconds, and then the clouds rolled back in front of it. I heard a shriek of laughter as I got out of the car, and then I fell back against the door as a group of college-age kids ran down the street. The leader of the pack was totally naked and he leapt across the lawn of the courthouse like a gazelle.

Chasing streakers was outside of my pay grade, thank God, so I hitched my bag up, ran across the street, and went through the front door of the sheriff’s office. There was a new sergeant at the front desk, but he was just as swamped as Hill had been earlier. I was let in through the side door and I couldn’t get back to Jack’s office fast enough.

His door was closed, but his blinds were open and I could see him sitting on the edge of his desk, staring at a wall of whiteboards. I knocked once and then let myself in, closing the door quickly behind me.

“I’m peopled out,” I said. “When did all these people move to King George County? I think they’re all gathered in the Towne Square tonight. I saw someone leaving the bar with a baby in a car seat. And I just passed a streaker on my way in.”

---